UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Trading Down 0.8%

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) shares fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $480.71 and last traded at $482.31. 1,207,368 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 4,499,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $486.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on UNH. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $570.05.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $454.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $486.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $514.42.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were issued a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total value of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total value of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth approximately $24,057,000. LifePro Asset Management acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth approximately $477,000. KG&L Capital Management LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 41.6% during the first quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,412,000 after buying an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% during the first quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,483 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $15,575,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davies Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,046,000. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.